


13 other stories

by comfortwriter28



Series: 13 reasons series [3]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2019-11-27 11:32:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18194045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comfortwriter28/pseuds/comfortwriter28
Summary: This will contain stories that happen along with the events of  'What it Means To Be a Friend' but breaks from the focus on the two boys and rather looks at their interactions with other members of the case. I'm not sure there will be 13 of them exactly and I'm honestly not sure there will be more than the two I have written but I'm going to post them as they get written and see where it goes. Hope you all enjoy it at least a little.





	1. Chapter 1

Reconciliation:

_Can u come over?_

Zach sends the message and wonders if it’s the right thing to do. The last time he wanted to vent to Justin he failed spectacularly but this time it isn’t venting he wants to do. He doesn’t know what it is he wants and that’s the problem. Dad comes home tomorrow and he’s no closer to knowing how to treat the man. His mom is easy, they aren’t talking and he’s fine with that. He’s also super grounded and that means that having Justin over is more against the rules than usual but he’s willing to take that chance.

_Yeah, you good?_

_Ill explain when you get here_

_Omw coming in through your window?_

_Yes_

It isn’t right of him but he thinks maybe Justin can help him work out how he feels. He feels awful, knows he hurt his dad badly and he meant to do it when he didn’t reply but the man has sent him two texts everyday since he left, the first ones apologizes in the beginning and then funny observations only his dad would make and that ordinarily get him to chuckle. The others have been ‘good nights’ with ‘I love yous’ and together they’ve worn him down. He knows his dad enough to read between the lines and see his dad’s pain in the messages.

The problem is that despite this, he still isn’t sure he totally forgives the man. He’s still angry and hurt that the man just lets Mom do what she wants and doesn’t even try to help. But he also sort of gets it. When his parents fight it’s bad for everyone and avoiding that isn’t wrong is it? He can’t blame the man for not wanting that fight but he can still and it’s all so confusing. He goes back and forth over and over.

A knock on his window is the thing that pulls him out of his thoughts and wow, has it really been long enough for Justin to come over? He unlocks the window and opens it mumbling an apology for not doing it earlier.

Justin waves off his apology while crawling into the window. “Don’t worry about it. What’s up.”

Casual but Zach can tell he knows something is up. He suddenly wishes he hadn’t asked Justin to come because he doesn’t really want to say but now he sort of has to.

“Nothing I just…” he does have to tell Justin he just can’t find the words.

The other boy tilts his head and those big eyes look at him with worry and sadness and if Justin knew what the problem was he wonders if the other boy would resent him for it.

“It isn’t nothing Zach.” His voice is gentle and doesn’t have any irritation or animosity in it. He takes a seat on Zach bed in front of him and put a hand on Zach’s knee. “If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine but tell me how I can help?”

“-” He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Justin still doesn’t look annoyed though and slides closer to him and wraps his arms around Zach and rub circles on his back. It’s soothing and he thinks a groan comes out of him. He feels some of the tension leave under Justin’s hands.

“Shhh Zach.Whatever the problem is I’m here for you.”

He realizes his eyes are moist and roughly wipes them away with his hand.

“You been sleeping alright Zach? You look tired.” Concern and sympathy, this isn’t what he wanted except that maybe it is and after this past week it feels pretty good.

He knows he looks bad too, his eyes have dark circles under them, for the past three nights he’s had problems sleeping because his brain won’t turn off. All he can think about is Dad and why he wants to, and should, forgive him and why he doesn’t want to and shouldn’t. It’s agonizing and he’s gone back and forth so many times he’s almost made himself sick.

He shakes his head to answer Justin but he still can’t make words come out.

“Alright why don’t you change and brush your teeth and we’ll go to bed?”

That actually sounds pretty nice and after Justin helps him get moving, he goes about doing that.

When he returns to the room he finds Justin’s now barefoot in the bed with the blankets pulled back. Zach joins him after shutting the lights off and Justin presses up against his side and he tries to relax but his brain seems to take the darkness as a cue to resume it’s internal debate. A hand works its way through his hair and he feels Justin’s breath against his collarbone as the boy whispers, “Shh Zach, go to sleep. I’m right here and I’ll be here when you get up and whatever it is isn’t too big for both of us so go to sleep.”

That works, his brain goes silent and he’s able to fall asleep, Justin pressed up against him pillowing their heads with his arm and Zach tosses an arm around Justin for good measure. It feels far more familiar than it should but it’s also comforting and that’s all that matters now. He drifts off into sleep and for the first time in a few nights it’s restful.

The next morning he wakes up to Justin nudging him and whispering, “I’ve got to go, your mom is up and I need to be gone before she catches me. Your dad’s home too, I heard him earlier. If you need me just call and I’ll be where ever you want.”

He almost rolls over and goes back to sleep when a sudden stab of what might be fear goes through him. Dad’s home. Without Justin and knowing the man is in the house, going back to bed becomes impossible. He tries though since it’s early and it would look weird for him to be up. His mom would like it though, think he was showing initiative and that’s another reason to remain in bed as far as he’s concerned.

Eventually he does though and finds Dad is in his office and he doesn't know how he feels about that. Isn’t sure he’s happy he doesn’t have to decide if he’s still angry or ready to forgive. In a way he sort of feels cheated though, seeing Dad was supposed to be like rip the bandaid off sort of thing so he wouldn’t have to torture himself with back and forths for any longer.

It doesn’t fix itself either. He spends basically all day like this.

Eventually though Mom leaves to do something or other with May and he’s fine with that, getting her out of the house is good at this point. He’s trying to work up the nerve to do this himself. He needs to do this, whatever it is. He needs to talk to Dad even if he hasn’t decided how he feels yet.

He hears Dad leave his office and make for the master bedroom and eventually he works up the nerve to approach.

“Dad?” He knocks on the door and he feels...painfully conflicted still

.

“Zach? Come in.” The voice sounds...as messed up as he feels and when he opens the door, he can see a lot of raw emotion on the man’s face.

He opens his mouth but words won’t come out and he isn’t even sure what he wants to say. His eyes feel wet for a moment and then the tears start in earnest. A moment later the strong, familiar arms wrap around him, gentle and tight and so perfectly it hurts physically and his face finds its way into the crook of his father’s neck and he inhales the smell of his cologne and aftershave. He knows it much be awful for Dad, here he is, the worst son in the world, now getting his shirt, and Zach is pretty sure this is his favorite shirt, wet with tears and snot after being so cruel to him and hurting him on purpose.

“I’m sorry.” It comes out as a sob broken whisper, and he’s ashamed that he can’t even keep his voice level for this.

“Shh hǔ shh. There’s no need to be sorry.”

Tiger, Dad hasn’t called him that in years not since mom sternly told him that Zach was too old for such childish names. He’s missed it and he didn’t know how much until hearing it now again. He pushes himself further against his father and his sobs hurt now, they tear out of him painfully and he can’t say all of the things he’s thinking about how he’s sorry that he’s terrible, that he was mean and cruel and payed his father back all his kindness with cruelty.

“Talk to me Zach.” It’s a gentle prodding not really a command and it’s one he can’t reply to not yet.

It takes another several minutes of them standing there with Dad rocking him and rubbing circles on his back and talking to him like he did when Zach was a little kid before he can respond.

“I’m sorry.” He’s said it already but he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to say it enough to really make up for what he did and what he said.

“I already told you, there’s nothing to be sorry for.” The warm smile, a slight up curving up the man’s lips and a tender sadness in his eyes almost make Zach start crying again.

“But all the things I said and didn’t say and I meant to hurt you.” Even though he’s admitted it to himself it’s still hard to get out, hard to admit it out loud because it somehow feels more real. Or maybe it’s more like Dad will know and then maybe be angry with him. He could be under the impression that Zach didn’t know what he was doing, didn’t know he meant to cause as much pain as he could. Now he does know and what if he no longer wants to forgive Zach? He could turn it around, tell Zach all his faults, he’d have a lot of material, or ignore him like Zach did to him.

He’s guided to the bed and pushed onto it before his father joins him.

“I know.”

It can’t be that easy. No way. Didn’t Dad hear him? He meant to hurt him and he knows he succeeded a lot. The man can’t just-

“Can I tell you something Zach?”

He nods mutely because what else is he supposed to do?

“Every parent should expect their children to break their hearts.” He says it with such surety that Zach can’t understand. How could he know that, why would he arrive at that conclusion, why would he want to accept something so painful?

“I know you don’t understand but if you ever have kids someday you will. You hold the crying infant in your arms and know that no matter how much you love that child, he or she will cause you no end of pain. Of course there’s the big one, when they leave you to marry, if they do so, but along the way they’ll hurt you in ways you didn’t know you could hurt.”

Bleak. It’s the first description he comes to and he doesn't think he’ll find a more accurate one. “Why?”

A chuckle, a low, warm sound that he doubts he could make if their positions were reversed. “Because it’s so much more. That crying bundle will cause you more pain than you can imagine but he or she will also be responsible for the greatest joys, the brightest laughs, and the warmest memories you’ll ever have. You have to take the good with the bad and I can say from experience that the good outweighs the bad any day.”

“Oh.” It isn’t a very smart answer but all well.

A large hand ruffles his hair. “I don’t expect you to understand but when you ask me why I forgive you, it’s because I would forgive you for anything. That’s a parent’s job after all. We’re supposed to love you, forgive you, support you, correct you, all those things. And we’re supposed to defend you. I’m sorry because I’ve failed you there. I know your mother can be hard on you and I should have tried harder to help you. Maybe if I had none of this would have happened.”

Zach shakes his head. It’s what he wanted to hear two weeks ago, maybe even before he came in this room, but he doesn’t feel any satisfaction from it now.

Dad just shakes his head back and leans over pull Zach against his side; he doesn’t fight it. He also doesn’t say anything though. He isn’t sure what to say or what there even is to say so he opts for silence. Dad does too and for several moments they sit like that until Dad breaks the silence.

“I’m going to talk to your mom and remind her that you have another year before you really need to start thinking about college. I’m also going to talk to her about Justin.”

Zach’s heart freezes. Did Dad know he stayed last night?

“I can’t promise anything but I’ll see if I can get her to lift the ban on him.”

He has no clue what to say but he manages a “Thank you.” It doesn't cover everything it needs to, it never will, like ‘sorry’ it seems pitifully weak but it’s all he has. Luckily dad takes it and he doesn’t elaborate farther which makes Zach think maybe he doesn’t know about last night and Justin.

They lapse back into silence again, this time for a long time, thinking on their own. He doesn’t know if Dad will succeed in convincing Mom of anything but even him trying will be nice. He still regrets what he did but maybe it isn’t all bad. He has a lot to think about now, he’d always assumed he find a girl, marry, and have kids. Now he’s not so sure about that last part. He believes Dad, that it’ll be the greatest and worst at the same time and suddenly he isn’t so sure if he wants that, not sure he can deal with the intensity of those emotions or that he even wants to. He supposes that’s fine though, he’s still a kid, he has time to figure out what he wants.

A car door closes outside and Dad nudges him.

“That’ll be Mom and May. Why don’t you take your sister to the ice cream place down the block while I talk to your mother?”

He nods because that sounds like a good idea. He isn’t exactly hopeful, or maybe he is and wishes he wasn’t but ice cream with May will at least lighten the blow if this doesn’t work. They head down stairs and he grabs May while Dad approaches Mom. He doesn’t hear anything as the door closes behind them and he’s fine waiting until they get back to find out the result.


	2. Jacket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justin doesn’t think of Tony Padilla often, they run in different crowds and don’t have much in common. He discovers though they do share something, strong attachments to the jackets they wear.

When you grow up where Justin did, you learn three important rules and you learn them young. The first is that the only good cop is the one who stays on _his_ side of town and doesn’t ask any questions, the second is that when you hear conversations you aren’t supposed to in a back alley, you keep on walking and pretend you heard nothing. The last is if you see a Padilla, you cross the street and walk in the opposite direction from them. This is the most important because any one of them is dangerous but they tend to travel in packs. Justin still remembers all three rules and to this day hasn’t broken any of them. He doesn’t think he has a great sense of self-preservation, if he did, he probably wouldn’t taunt his mom’s druggie boyfriends but he isn’t suicidal either and breaking these borders on that. 

Today though he’s about to break the last one because it’s the youngest brother, Tony. He doesn’t know the kid but they go to school together and he’s got a temper that’s nothing short of terrifying. He’s also supposed to be able to beat the shit out of anyone and Justin believes it, the junior doesn’t look particularly muscular or strong but Justin knows better than to trust those indicators, Andy, Rob, and Mike are painful reminders. 

Right now though, he’s just rounded the corner and can see a ring of people with two in the middle, Tony and, to his surprise, Harry. He hasn’t seen the man in over a year since the he broke up with his mom but there’s no doubt. The thin, weasley man was one of the cruelest men his mom dated and it’s not that Justin thinks of him often but...his mom had been sober all summer between eighth grade and freshman year. It had been her longest stretch and Justin likes to think maybe he had something to do with that because he was home a bit more, keeping an eye on her and helped her through the withdrawls no matter what she said, and she said some awful things, but she had been doing good.

And then Harry came in, got her re-addicted to everything in the space of a week and a half and well, Justin had learned how to play basketball with bruises because of the man. It’s not that he thinks about his mom’s exs a lot in general, there are too many to remember anyway, but he hates Harry in a special way, _that summer had been hard, like really hard, but she had been doing so good, they had been doing so good_ , and Harry ruined it. So maybe the man crosses his thoughts more frequently than some of the others but honestly he usually has more pressing concerns than exs...like the current boyfriend.

Now though it seems Harry’s gotten himself in trouble with a Padilla and Justin isn’t a good enough of a person not to watch this. He elbows his way to the center of the crowd and it’s not hard to catch up with the argument.

“I’m warning you man, don’t fucking test me because I will fucking destroy you, you hear!”

“Listen kid, I don’t know what your problem is but fuck off.”The voice is painfully Harry, bored apathy and reckless disregard for ruining other people. He didn’t think he could ever forget how much he hated the man but hearing his voice brings back memories Justin never wanted to remember. 

_“Listen kid I want to fuck and your mom is cheap, all I have to do is supply her and I get all the sex I want. Don’t be mad at me she’s rather lose herself than deal with you sober.”_

He struggles to repress that and several others painfully similar or just painful, luckily Padilla’s raging is pretty easy to focus on.

“Oh you don’t know what you fucking did? You think it’s okay to sell your shit to little kids do you? Listen to me, you do this again and you’re fucking dead!” 

Justin can see Padilla holding a bag of something up and he’s pretty sure it’s weed but Harry doesn’t sell just weed. His shit is always sprayed with something, PCP or LSD or something else, whatever he can get his grimy hands on that’ll up the price he can sell it for and as a result makes it far more dangerous than just weed would be. Justin’s seen him spraying it too, knows he does. He also knows the asshole over charges anyway because the base weed is like, really bad stuff, low quality and usually past its prime. The stuff is bad and it makes people act bad, his mom even threw a beer bottle at him and that had to be the stuff because she wouldn’t do it otherwise. And Harry is selling to kids? He hopes Padilla breaks his guy’s legs, maybe that’ll keep him from selling for a bit.

He squeezes and pushes his way to the front of the circle without much trouble while Harry is replying.

“What the fuck are you going to do? You’re just a punk with a big mouth and an attitude.” The man’s voice hasn’t changed and he still looks like a hollow man. Justin knows he is and hates him more for cause he seems to try to make other people like he is. 

He can see Padilla’s face and sees it twist, his fists clench and Justin has seen enough fights and hear enough rumors about the Padillas and Tony to know how this ends. Harry on the ground, maybe crying maybe not, covered in blood. If Padilla fights like he thinks the boy will, he’ll be covered in Harry’s blood. Monty is after a fight he wins and Albert was too...that thought makes him shudder. Justin avoids fights when he can. He doesn’t have a great winning record and he’s wanted to avoid getting blood on his jacket. It would stain the light blue and white badly and it means far too much to him to risk it getting ruined with some assholes blood...even if its his own.

Glancing back at Padilla he wonders. He always wears a leather jacket and Justin thinks leather jackets on most people are just tacky. Most people who wear it are wannabe tough guys who usually look like they’re out of, like bad 70's movies and aren’t at all intimidating, or by old guys who are chasing some past glory. On most people. But, he has to admit that Padilla isn’t most people and makes it work. He doesn’t look like someone who wants to be tough, or is chasing something, he looks like a dude who could beat up most people and knows it. Seems like a shame to get blood on the jacket and he thinks leather is expensive to clean.

“Padilla.” He pushes out of the crowd and almost gets decked for it by said boy. 

“The fuck do you want Foley.” 

The rage is barely contained...well no it isn’t at all contained and Justin wonders if he’s made a mistake but he flashes his smile and says, “Your jacket, you should let someone hold it, don’t want to get blood on it.”

“You think I’m going to lose to this waste of life? I’ll fucking kill you after him I swear-”

“I meant his blood.” Right this is why he doesn’t help people outside of his circle.

To his credit, Padilla looks surprised for a moment and then shrugs his jacket off and throws it at Justin who catches it and fades back into the safety of the ring. The teen launches himself at the man and it goes about how Justin imagined. Harry takes a couple punches to the face and body, then goes down spurting blood which ends up all over Padilla’s cloths. Harry snivels a bit on the ground like the pathetic son of a bitch he is while Padilla now delivers kicks to his side. All in all, pretty brutal.

He’s surprised by two things. The first is how unsatisfying it is to watch. He thought watching Harry get the shit beaten out of him would give him some satisfaction since the man did it to him so many times and yet-. He almost feels bad for the man because it’s clear Padilla is not only far stronger than him but also not planning to stop and Justin knows what that’s like because he’s been there before more often than he wants to admit.

The second is that the police actually come. He’s smart enough to know that breaking one of golden rules is enough for a single day and he joins the group of people who run. It isn’t hard for him, he heads into one of the alleys, jumps a fence and heads home. 

He realizes when he’s inside he still has Padilla’s jacket and he panics because holy shit, he stole from a Padilla and that’s really bad for his continued living. He isn’t sure what to do but eventually remembers his mother once pointed out where the Padilla family lived when he was younger and told him to avoid that place. He heads there now intent on returning the jacket and while he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, he also doesn’t think holding onto it is any better and given the choice he’s rather just be rid of it.

Returning it isn’t hard actually, he passes it to an intimidating looking man and a surprisingly jolly looking woman who he assumes are Padilla’s parents without much explanation then manages to walk until he’s out of their view and practically runs the rest of the way home. Once he’s back at his house, he doesn’t think too much about it for the rest of the day, actually he gets high as a kite to sooth his nerves but the jacket isn’t in his hands anymore and he hopes that’s enough to keep him alive and not bring the wrath of the Padilla’s down on him.

Actually, he doesn’t think about it again until his Mom wakes him up at nine the next morning and tells him someone wants him at the door. She looks distinctly unhappy about it but that could mean anything since she usually doesn't like his friends and the feeling is kind of mutual. He isn’t sure who he’s expecting though cause not too many people know where he lives, Bryce, Zach and Willem are maybe the only ones so needless to say, he’s surprised it’s Padilla on the other side and wonders if maybe he should slam the door and run but the other boy doesn’t look angry. 

He also doesn’t look much worse off for the fight. He’s wearing his jacket though and looks Justin up and down and he has the feeling the shorter boy is looking into his soul. He feels judged and usually he’s doing that not the other way around but he doesn’t flinch. If that is what’s happening, he’s not going to give the other boy the satisfaction of knowing he’s making Justin like really uncomfortable.

After a moment the other boy speaks. “Thank you Justin, for looking after my jacket yesterday. You were right, I didn’t want to get blood on it and I would have if you didn’t hold it.”

It throws him for a loop and he could manage to keep contact with the dark eyes but apparently that’s the extent of his bravery because speaking is harder than he expected. “Oh-yeah sure. I just- I wouldn’t want to get anything on mine. Didn’t think you would either.” It sounds kind of awkward to his own ears but he knows that trying to explain more will make it worse.

“You were right, this was a gift from my abuelo; his when he was a younger man. He’s gone now though, this is all I have from him. I’m usually much more careful with it but that-” he breaks into a string of Spanish Justin heard many times from other people in the neighborhood and knows it isn’t flattering. Padilla seems to realize he’s gone off and clears his throat before saying, “He got me angry and I wasn’t thinking straight. Thank you.”

His voice is sincere, painfully so and Justin smiles because well, he gets it. “No worries man, I-mine is a gift too, it means more to me than pretty much anything so I’m glad I could help you out.” He means it too, ruining his jacket-well it’s one of the best things he owns, warm, fashionable, and it still smells faintly like Zach...enough that sometimes when he really misses his friend he’ll bury his face in the front collar and try to pretend Zach is there. It’s pathetic and he’s sure Padilla would laugh at something so weak but obviously his leather jacket means as much to him and he doesn’t know this kid but he’s honestly glad he could help.

“Well, I’ll be seeing you around Foley.”

“Yep, see ya Padilla.”

The other boy leaves and he closes the door feeling pretty good about himself for the first time in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this written for a while but I needed it to be cold enough for Tony to be wearing a jacket so that's why it hasn't been posted. I'm not sure how many more of there they'll be but enjoy.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is set in the story arc that spans from chapter 26-28 in the main fic and concludes the fight Zach has with his dad was well as give some back story to the seen George witnesses in his Looking In chapter. I felt it was important to give some end to their fight and this was the result. Hopefully you all like it. 
> 
> Also I'm probably going to leave it marked as complete because until I reach points for updates it effectively is.


End file.
